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Thursday, July 09, 2015

The tessellated Roman pavement under Leicester Central

This doorway across one of the arches beneath Leicester Central station may not look much, but their is an exciting story behind it.

The Blackfriars tessellated Roman pavement was believed to have been constructed between the years 70 and 85 AD., during the period of rule under the Governor, Julius Agricola. It remained hidden until 1832 when it was uncovered in the basement of a house at 53 Jewry Wall Street.

This house was later demolished to make way for the Great Central Railway's Leicester Central station, but a special chamber was built around the mosaic (beneath the station) to protect it and provide public access. It survived like this until the late 1970's when the mosaic was removed to the nearby Jewry Wall Museum.

It's an extraordinary thought that it was possible to view the pavement beneath Leicester Central for a decade after the station had closed. And this was the doorway to its chamber.

The photo below shows the Jewry Wall Museum, where you can see the pavement today. It is taken through an arch of the Jewry Wall - the second largest surviving piece of Roman civilian building in Britain.

Today came news that the city council is to buy the former Vaughan College, which stands next to the museum.